On
January 11, 2011, I spoke before a packed house of some 500 people who
had braved below zero temperatures to hear me speak here in my adopted
hometown of Kalispell, Montana. Among the journalists who were there
were the Flathead Beacon’s Dan Testa and the Daily Inter Lake’s
Caleb Soptelean.

Soptelean’s
report on my speech was published on January 13, 2011, in the Inter
Lake. That report can
be read here.

Testa’s
report was published in the Beacon’s January 17, 2011, edition.
See Testa’s report
here.

The
day after Testa’s report appeared in the Beacon, the paper’s
Editor-in-Chief, Kellyn Brown, wrote an opinion column about my speech.
His column can be read
here.

After
reading Kellyn’s column, it was apparent to me that I needed to
respond with a column of my own. Kellyn agreed to publish my response,
and my column is in the current edition of the Flathead Beacon.

I
believe it would be beneficial for my readers nationwide to read, not
only the two newspaper reports and editorial regarding my move to Montana--and
the speech I gave on that Tuesday night--but also my response to the
Beacon’s Kellyn Brown. Therefore, what follows is the column that
I wrote for the Flathead Beacon.

[Start
of the column sent to the Flathead Beacon] I want to thank Kellyn Brown
for welcoming me to the Flathead Valley with his editorial in the January
28, 2011, Flathead Beacon. I am honored that he would devote an entire
editorial to my speech. I wish, however, that Kellyn had been a little
more accurate in his assessment of what I said. After all, he is the
paper’s Editor-in-Chief.

Kellyn
opened his column saying, “Chuck Baldwin moved to Montana a few
months ago and has vowed to mold the state into what he thinks it should
look like.”

Kellyn,
where and when did you hear me say that? My family and I (including
5 heads of households, and a total of 18 people--11 of whom are here
now, and 7 more arriving this spring) did not move here to mold the
wonderful State of Montana into anything. We came here because we love
the mold that makes Montana what it is: an independent, self-reliant,
freedom-loving State. If we wanted to mold Montana into someplace else,
we would have moved (or stayed) there!

Kellyn
then takes great liberty with one statement I made (out of an hour-long
speech) by saying, “The litmus test for becoming a ‘real
Montanan,’ according to Baldwin, is determined by whether you
agree with him.”

No,
Kellyn. My litmus test is Montana itself. In my opinion, Montana truly
is “The Last Best Place.” This is especially true for people
who love independence and liberty. And I think Kellyn’s comments
prove that what I said is true.

During
the past two years, I have traveled over 60,000 miles to virtually every
crack and corner of America. And after seeing this vast “fruited
plain” from coast to coast and border to border, I am convinced
that we made the right choice to move HERE. What caused our family to
uproot ourselves (at great financial cost--even loss, I might add) and
come to the Flathead (to stay) is the very spirit that Kellyn himself
demonstrates in his column.

Historically,
Montanans are not content to be lumped in with every other State or
area. Montanans have always been known as rugged individualists. They
don’t like people in other states or cities telling them what
to do. And that includes Washington, D.C.! It’s not that Montanans
are snobbish; they just don’t appreciate people moving here from
other places and then trying to turn this State into the State they
came from. Hooray! If my family and I had wanted to turn Montana into
Florida, we would have stayed in Florida!

Unfortunately,
not everyone born in a place appreciates the heritage and principles
that make that place unique. For example, not everyone born in America
appreciates the independent spirit that founded this great country.
Observe how many US citizens work to bring America under the power and
influence of the United Nations, or the World Bank, or some other international
cabal; or how many people look to Washington, D.C., for all sorts of
handouts, etc. Samuel Adams sure had some scathing words to say regarding
those who chose to kowtow to the Crown, rather than stand for independence
and freedom.

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Consider,
too, how many people born in Montana chose to leave Montana. Plus, how
many people call Montana home only during the summer months? Compare
that to the number of people who chose to make Montana their home by
migrating here from other states. It takes more than one’s birthplace
to make one a genuine contributor to what makes a place unique.

Did
not our Lord say basically the same thing when he said of non-relatives,
“Behold, my mother and brothers”?

I
was born in Indiana, but haven’t lived there since 1971. Am I
really a Hoosier?

And,
yes, Kellyn, I do believe we have a “church problem.” I
think I’m qualified to make that statement. After spending 35
years as a pastor, I’m well acquainted with the cowardice and
compromise that is pervasive throughout mainstream “Churchianity.”
That’s why Liberty Fellowship, which we established here in Kalispell,
is anything but a mainstream church. I don’t blame people for
not wanting to go to church. If all I had to choose from were these
churches that teach this fallacious Romans 13 “Obey-The-Government-No-Matter-What”
nonsense, I wouldn’t want to go either!

Was
I proud to receive Ron Paul’s endorsement for President in 2008?
Absolutely! Will I be a candidate for governor--or some other office--here
in Montana? Many Montanans are urging me to do this, but I am a long
way from making my mind up about that.

I
want to do whatever I can to help Montanans preserve and maintain their
independence and individuality. How I can best do that is yet to be
determined. In the meantime, I’m just proud to be a MONTANAN!
[End of the column sent to the Flathead Beacon]

To
give readers an update: in the six weeks that Liberty Fellowship has
been meeting, we have averaged between 150-200 each service, and I can
tell you that the spirit of freedom is alive and well at every meeting.
I can also tell you that every week we meet or hear about people who
have either just moved here, or who are visiting here in preparation
for a move, or who have written telling me that they are moving here.
EVERY WEEK!

Last
Sunday, a man was in the service that had just moved here from Seattle.
There is a family attending Liberty Fellowship (LF) that just moved
here from Australia. They have been reading my columns for years. Another
family attending LF just moved here from Sacramento, California. A couple
of weeks ago, two families were here from Michigan: they are moving
here. Another family was here from Illinois: they are moving here. A
young couple attending LF just moved here from Arizona. The list goes
on and on.

Obviously,
not everyone is going to feel led to move to the State of Montana (And
those of us who live in Montana are glad of that!). There is no doubt
in my mind, however, that God is putting it in the hearts of tens of
thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of people to prepare for
a future
(maybe near future) upheaval. An illustration of this feeling of imminent
danger is this
CNBC report.

As
I have said repeatedly, the only hope for freedom’s survival is
for individual states to draw a line in the sand and be willing to stand
and fight for their own independence and sovereignty. And let’s
be honest: not all states are going to be willing to do that. And if
you don’t think yours will, you might want to relocate to one
that will. That’s exactly what thousands of people all over America
are doing. And if you think you cannot afford such a move, what will
you be able to afford if and when the bottom falls out? Just a thought,
folks.

Plus,
people are sick and tired of these corporate churches not taking a stand
for anything. That’s why we have people from all over America
watching our livestreamed services at Liberty Fellowship every Sunday
afternoon. (And that’s why so many people are even moving to Kalispell,
Montana!) By the way, I will be preaching my fourth and final message
on “The Truth About Romans 13” this Sunday, February 27,
2011, at 2:00 pm (MST). Technical difficulties prevented me from delivering
this message last Sunday. Plus, this Sunday we will start broadcasting
the ENTIRE SERVICE, not just my message. To watch the service at Liberty
Fellowship this Sunday, click
here.

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And
to view or download any of my first three messages on Romans 13 (or
other messages), click
here.

The
newspapers and other corporate media outlets may not understand what
is driving freedom-loving people to do what we are doing, but that’s
ok. The truth is, we are fighting for their freedom too! Plus, I hold
out hope that the Kellyn Browns of America are beginning to have their
own eyes opened as well. Who knows, maybe one day Kellyn will write
another column praising and thanking me for moving to Montana! Wouldn’t
that be something?

*If
you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial
opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit
card, check, or Money Order. Use
this link.

Chuck
Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church
in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985 the church was recognized by President
Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and influence.

Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively, hard-hitting
syndicated radio talk show on the Genesis Communications Network called,
"Chuck Baldwin Live" This is a daily, one hour long call-in show in which
Dr. Baldwin addresses current event topics from a conservative Christian
point of view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly articles on the internet ChuckBaldwinLive.com
and newspapers.

To learn more about his radio talk show please
visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.
When responding, please include your name, city and state.

After reading Kellyn’s
column, it was apparent to me that I needed to respond with a column of
my own. Kellyn agreed to publish my response, and my column is in the
current edition of the Flathead Beacon.